Spring cushion for upholstered furniture



A. M. BANK SPRING CUSHION FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE Filed Jan 27, 1948INVENTQR 5/50"! fl ank 1 W ATTORNEY Patented July 18, 1950 OFFICE SPRINGCUSHION FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE Albert M. Bank, Jersey City, N. J.

Application January 27, 1948, Serial No. 4,663

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to spring cushions for upholstered furniture. Itit particularly directed to a metal spring assembly, which is coveredwith padding and incorporated into a seat or back cushion for a sofa,chair, or like upholstered article of furniture.

An object of this invention is to provide a spring cushion of thecharacter described, comprising top and bottom edge frames, rows of coilsprings therebetween, the end convolution of each coil springoverlapping the end convolution of coil spring or springs adjacentthereto, and top and bottom wires transversely of said rows forinterconnecting and clamping together the overlapping end convolutionsof said springs, each wire having central integral portions projectingbetween a pair of overlapped convolutions and interconnected by a hookextending to one side and engaging beneath the underlapping convolution,and integral portions on opposite sides of the central hook portion,projecting between said convolutions but beyond the overlapping portionsand interconnected by hooks extending in a direction opposite to thefirst hook and engaging beneath the underlapping convolution. andportions of the wire between said central hook and said pair of hooks,pressing down on the overlapped convolution, to clamp said convolutionstogether, whereby the end convolution of said springs are held againstswivel movement, one relative to the other when weight is imposed on thecushion.

Another object of this invention is to provide a spring cushion of thecharacter described, wherein the spring coils have overlapping endconvolutions locked together against swivelling by looking or clampingwires which engage each pair of overlapping contacting convolutions,pressing them together, whereby said cushion will give more distributedsupport when weight is imposed thereon, and whereby the spring coils arelocked and suspended between the locking wires.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improvedcompact, strong and durable spring cushion of the character described,which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble,comfortable in use, and yet practical and efflcient to a high degree.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in parthereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplifled in the construction hereinafter described,

2 and of which the scope of invention will be indicated in the followingclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown various illustrativeembodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a spring cushion embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view illustrating the locking of a pair ofoverlapping convolutions by a looking or clamping wire;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the structure of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 3.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, in designates a spring cushionembodying the invention. The same comprises top and bottom opposed,parallel edge frames H, which may be made of wire. Each frame may bemade of a single piece of wire bent to desired rectangular shape withcurved corners and with ends overlapping and clamped together by clipsl2. The frames II are interconnected by a spring assembly i3.

Said spring assembly l3 comprises a plurality of parallel, spaced,aligned rows of coil springs II, which may be of the hour-glass shapedtype, well known in the art. Thus, there are end rows i5 of springs, andintermediate rows l6 of springs. End convolutions of the coil Springsare attached to the end frames i I by clips i8 and i9, as shown in thedrawing.

The end convolutions of the coil springs are locked and clamped togetherby parallel locking or clamping wires 2|. Said end convolutions areoverlapping, as will be described hereinafter. Since the lockingconstructions at the top and bottom of the cushion are similar andsymmetrically disposed, only the construction of the top will bedescribed.

Referring therefore only to the top of the cushion, the end convolutionof the spring Ila at the left end of each row, designated by numeral 25,underlaps the end convolution 26 of the next adjacent spring b. Saidconvolution 26, however, underlaps the end convolution 21 of the nextadjacent spring Mb. Said end convolution 21 underlaps the endconvolution 28 of the end spring Na in said row. Thus, each of theconvolutions 26 and 21 of the intermediate springs overlaps the endconvolution of a spring on one side thereof, and underlaps the andconvolution of a spring at the opposite side theretions 25, 28, whichwill illustrate the construction at each overlap. The wire 28 has wireportions 40 contacting the overlapping convolution 26 at the pointswhere it crosses the underlapping convolution 25. Extending from theinner ends of wire portions 40 are downwardly extending spaced parallelwire portions 6! which are interconnected by a hook 42 which extends tothe right and engages beneath the underlapping convolution 25. It willbe noted that the wire portions 4| project downwardly between theoverlapped wire portions 25, 26 and the book 42 is disposed in avertical plane through the axes of the springs in one row. Extendingdownwardly from the outer ends of wire portions 49 are wire portions 43located just beyond the crossing portions of the wires 25, 28.

Extending from wire portions 43 in a direction opposite to the directionof hook 42 are hooks 44 which engage beneath the underlappingconvolution 25. Extending upwardly fromthe hooks 44 are wire portions 45parallel to wire portions 43 and extending from the wire portions 45 inopposite directions are wire portions 46 aligned with the wire portions49.

It will now be understood that the overlapping convolution 26 is presseddown at two points, to wit, the points where the overlapping convolution2S crosses the underlapping convolution 25. Furthermore, theunderlapping convolution is pressed upwardly at a center point and attwo points beyond the place where the convolutions cross. With suchconstruction, the convolutions 25, 26 are hooked and maintained in levelcondition.

Furthermore, the convolutions 25 and 26 cannot be pulled apart becauseof the wire portions 4| which project down through and between theoverlapping portions. Also the convolutions 25, 26 cannot be movedtoward each other because of engagement with the wire portions 43 whichengage said convolutions just beyond the places where they cross so thatsaid wire portions 43 are disposed between said convolutions and preventsaid convolutions from being moved further toward each other in adirection to increase the overlap.

It will now be understood that the overlap cannot be increased ordecreased due to the conotherwise clipped or attached thereto. einterlocking construction disclosed in Figs. 8 to 7 is the same at eachplace where the convolutions overlap and the same construction statedabove is used at the top of the spring as at the bottom.

The hooks s2 and i l exert lever action to restrain swivelling actionbetween adjacent springs. The wires 2iare preferably made of springsteel, so that the hooks resiliently bias the end convolutions of thesprings into level position.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which theseveral objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adaptedto meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made or the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I oi as new and desire to protect byLetters Patent:

1. In a spring cushion comprising opposite edge frames and springsinterconnecting said edge frames, a pair of adjacent springs having endconvolutions overlapping one another, means to lock said overlappedconvolutions comprising a member having aligned portions contactingtheoverlapped convolution, portions extending downwardly from the innerends of said aligned portions between the crossing portions of saidconvolutions and interconnected by a hook extending to one side andengaging beneath. the underlapped convolution and portions ex-' tendingdownwardly from the outer ends of said aligned portions at points justbeyond where said convolutions cross and hooks extending from said lastmentioned downwardly extending portions in a direction opposite to thefirst hook and engaging said underlapping convolution at points beyondwhere said convolutions cross.

2. In a spring cushion, a pair of adjacent coil springs havingconvolutions overlapping one another, means to lock said overlappingconvolutions comprising a member having aligned portions contactin oneof the overlapping convolustruction described hereinabove. Furthermore,I

convolutions 25 and 26 cannot be moved sideways, one relative to theother in directions parallel to wire 2 I, because such movement would beprevented by wire portions 43 as well as 4|.

The convolutions 25 and 28 are restrained against swivelling movement,so that if a weight is imposed upon the spring assembly, the weight willbe distributed throughout the cushion to get a better distribution ofsupport for weight imposed on the cushion;

The ends of the looking or clamping wires 28 may be coiled around edgeframes as at III, or

tions, portions extending between the crossing portions of saidconvolutions and interconnected by a hook extending to one side andengaging with the other overlapping convolution and portions extendingfrom the outer ends of said aligned portions at points just beyond wheresaid convolutions cross and hooks extending therefrom in a directionopposite to the first hook and engaging said other overlapp wconvolution at points beyond where said convolutions cross.

ALBERT M. BANK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

